September rides

[emily_in_nc]

Emily, by coincidence I find myself in Lake County, Florida, since my hubby has cousins, here.

Wow, NWG, glad you were okay in the end! I can't believe it is still so stinkin' hot there. We were there last winter from early January to mid-March, and we had everything from chilly rides requiring tights and vests to tanktops and shorts, of course. The hills were what caught me by surprise. We'd been in Playa del Carmen, Mexico for the previous 6 months so had ridden nothing but dead flats. I expected the same in Florida but did not get it. The west Orange trail beat my azz for awhile until I got used to the hills!

And I couldn't get anyone to believe that there were hills in Florida! Wind, of course, but hills? No one buying it! Hope the rest of your time there was less eventful than this ride....

[emily_in_nc]

Have only managed two short rides since I last posted due to traveling, hiking, weather, etc, but they were both good ones!

1. Rode part of "Trail 1101" aka the Continental Divide Trail from our campground (Dumont Lake) high in Colorado. SO gorgeous and very challenging, as the part we rode climbed about 1000' starting from 9500' elevation, so the air was thin, and I was gasping on even the slightest climb. Parts were so steep and technical (by my standards, which are pretty dismal) that I walked both up and down, but the easier parts were SO. MUCH. FUN.



2. Short road ride from our RV park near Grand Lake, CO at the border of the Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park down into Grand Lake (down down down), stopping to see elk along the way. Glorious aspens at peak color, beautiful lake, and a good climb back to the park from town.

[north woods gal]

Beautiful country, Emily, so I could live with some walking and I'm sure I would have done some, too.

The Lake County section of Fl does, indeed, have some nice rollers, even a few good challenging hills. Geologically, it's a ridge that forms the spine of the state. Who knew?

Actually, I have found some hills in this very flat coastal section of Florida I'm visiting, now. Strangely enough, the bridges that cross all the canals and inland waterways are built in steep, tall arcs to let tall boats pass underneath. Some of these have given me a good workout, all the more with this heat and humidity. Heat indexes have been over 100, every day.

Not really my kind of place, but I do appreciate it's beauty and charm, but, then, that's the fun of seeing new places, as you well know.

[emily_in_nc]

Yes, in most parts of Florida and in many other coastal areas, the overpasses are the best hill work you'll get. ;-)

I am not a big fan of riding in intense heat or humidity either, tho' I've certainly done a lot of it over the years, living mostly in NC, so I totally get what you're saying, NWG.

We took out the road bikes yesterday and headed out from our campground in the Pawnee Nat'l Grassland in NE Colorado for a ride. We figured a county road would be lightly traveled, but unfortunately it is harvest season, and consequently there were many big rigs out on the road. No shoulder and a 65 mph speed limit made for less than optimum conditions. It was also quite windy, so every time a truck would pass in either direction, I'd have to stop pedaling and just try to stay upright.

We ended up cutting the ride a bit short because of this, and good thing, as this was an out-and-back, and when we turned around to come back, the wind had really kicked up, and we had a head wind all the way. My average speed went down 1.2 mph from the first half because of this, not that I care, but it does illustrate how windy it was. Ended up with 37 miles -- wanted 40, but just couldn't handle any more trucks or wind.

It was beautiful countryside, though, with lots of pronghorns, meadowlarks, etc. along the way. And my aging but still in good shape "Save the Grasslands" socks I ordered right here on TE during a half-price promotion years ago fit right in!

[north woods gal]

Yeah, welcome to life in the great wide open. When living in Nebraska, we used to joke about the 4 or 5 days a year we would get with no wind and how it would scare everyone. Actually some truth to it, given that it would amaze people.

For bike riding, AWAYS a factor.

[ny biker]

I rode 62 miles yesterday in St Mary's County, Maryland. It was cloudy and humid but cool. At one point we did have a strong headwind near the river, but mostly the breeze wasn't bad. There were 6 of us. Some of the roads were new to me. One of our stops was at a plantation that dates back to 1702; I'd like to visit there again and see more of it. My legs felt tired on every hill but it was fun.

[emily_in_nc]

Yeah, welcome to life in the great wide open. When living in Nebraska, we used to joke about the 4 or 5 days a year we would get with no wind and how it would scare everyone. Actually some truth to it, given that it would amaze people.

LOL! Today we were on the road, driving from NE Colorado into Nebraska, and the local news here reported 32 mph gusts this afternoon. I believe it -- we were getting blown all over the road; rather disconcerting in a 32' motorhome, especially for DH, the driver! We were really glad to pull into the campground and get off the road at 2:30 pm.

No riding today.

[north woods gal]

Not making this up, Emily, but when we lived in western Nebraska for a time, we actually had to dodge tumbleweeds getting blown across the road on windy days. Those things can flat out move when the wind gets them rolling.

Back home, tonight, to our north woods. Highs in the 50s, tomorrow with showers. After a week of sun and the humid 90s in Florida, not sure how I will adapt. I was actually adapting to the Florida weather, getting better each day. Ended up with 100 miles over four days. No great tally on the miles, but enough to tell me I could live down, there, and still bike on a regular basis. Kind of a confidence builder for me. The only thing I missed was some gravel roads and single track. Almost all of the roads had bike lanes and all the bike trails were paved. Very nice, but maybe just a bit too civilized for a country gal like me.

P.S. Lots of great birds and even saw some dolphins. No alligators or snakes, though. (I'm okay with that.)

[emily_in_nc]

Good luck re-adapting to the chilly weather, NWG! We too have dodged a few tumbleweeds over the past few years while traveling in various spots! They're still kind of cool to me, growing up in NC and never seeing one until a few years ago!

I think I could live in Florida half the year; not sure about the other half. To me the ideal would be Florida or Arizona for a third of the year (winter) and somewhere north (probably Oregon, Washington, or Minnesota) for a third (summer), then traveling the other third (shoulder seasons). We may well evolve to something like that in our RV rather than racing around quite as much as we have this first year. It's been fun, but I doubt we'll keep up this pace forever!

[north woods gal]

I understand, Emily. I think it would be fun to do all that traveling, day after day, but not sure I could keep up the pace. Sooner or later, my nesting instinct would get the best of me and I'd want to to settle in to an area a bit.

Woke up, this morning, to high winds, temps in the upper 40s and a very cold rain - Florida, this ain't. Looks like indoor riding on the trainer, today, but after traveling all day, yesterday via plane and car with no riding, I really NEED to ride. I find that riding helps me to regain my balance, so to speak, anytime I've had a break in my routine. Just one of many, many benefits of riding, of course.

[Sky King]

Tumbleweeds... Last year the DH got a flat tire when the tumbleweed caught in his spoke actually stabbed through the hole in the rabbit rims on his Surly Troll. Over labor day weekend we fought them for several stretches in the Jabridge desert but thankfully no flats.

This past weekend we finally had our first Owyhee Pedal Patrol trip. The Wilderness Ranger at the BLM office is a customer of the shop and he put together this great program of volunteers. We are all Leave no Trace certified and have up to date First Aid and CPR. This trip there was only 4 of us. We camped together Friday night and rode about 6 miles as a group on Saturday then we split into 2 groups to check out specific areas of the Owyhee Wilderness. The DH and I had an awesome camp site overlooking the river. We hiked down to filter water and even saw a fish. Happy to say we didn't see any people besides the two other riders we went with. Sunday we met up about 1:30 and then had the "joy" of climbing back up to the truck - about 4,000 foot elevation gain. We were really pooped. Had to laugh at the Ranger as he learned the valuable lesson of never passing up the opportunity to filter water and top off your supply. We all shared water and we knew there was a spring about 2 miles before we ended the ride. By the time we got there everyone was out of water. We saw Antelope, Deer, coyote and a rattlesnake and the other team saw some elk. Super fun but I am really tired today!
I put a bunch of photos on our facebook page so won't go wild here.

[north woods gal]

Thanks, Sky. Have always liked that area for its stark, rugged beauty and, of course, its isolation. I could be happy, there, rattlesnakes and all.

As for my riding, had planned to sit out the cold and rain, yesterday, my first day back from sunny Florida, but being trapped in a house always drives me nuts, so bundled up, put on the rain gear and just hit the trails around the house for an hour with the fat bike. Had to hose down the big Salsa to remove all the mud when I was done, but that's all part of the game when you ride in dirt on a rainy day. Yeah, send me some of that Owyhee dryness my way.

[emily_in_nc]

Ewww, that sounds like a messy and chilly ride, NWG. I am sure I would have ridden the trainer. I hate mud -- walking in it, riding in it, hiking in it. Just don't like the mess of it nor how it feels underfoot. Ugh.

We are in Kansas now and had a really nice ride today. The campground is HUGE and along a beautiful reservoir, so riding around that a few times plus the road in and out netted me 27 miles. Temps were 65-75 with a light breeze and sunshine. Almost no one here this time of year, so I got passed by maybe 2 cars in 2 hours. Really nice! And I'm breathing much easier being down in the lower elevations again. The mountains are gorgeous, but the elevation made even a little bit of climbing tough for me.

[emily_in_nc]

Meant to add that I just published a blog post on cycling in Dinosaur National Monument, Utah. It was just lovely! This was a couple of weeks ago.

http://travelingtwosome.weebly.com/t...ional-monument

[north woods gal]

Know what you mean about the elevation thing, Emily. Really is a factor, especially when you don't live in a high elevation, year round.

As for the mud thing, well, it's all part of the mountain bike image, I suppose. As they say, a clean mountain bike is a mountain bike that is not being used. For sure, I HATE indoor riding and will be doing enough of that this winter when temps fall well below zero. Would rather ride in the rain or even snow, any day. An indoor girl, I have never been.

That Florida heat and sunshine was nice, though, now that I'm back to my north woods. The memory should helpto keep me warm on my upcoming winter rides in the snow with the fat bike.

PS Really enjoying your blogs!